Why *we went* to Web Summit this year
This year again we had an opportunity to attend Web Summit. We got selected for Alpha Startup program. Alpha gives the team access to all talks and exhibitions, entry to workshops and roundtables and an exhibition stand for one day which for us was located in the eCommerce / HR & Recruitment Area. This blog post summarizes our top four reasons to attend Web Summit.
1. TO NETWORK
Web Summit hosts 60.000 attendees and it may feel overwhelming at first, but with the right approach and openness you can get a lot out of it. There are endless opportunities to do that from stopping by and meeting startups & companies at their stands, to using different lounge areas, like Women in Tech. Finally ending the day at the Night Summit and other fringe events happening outside of the fair’s area. And even surprising networking opportunities like meeting and chatting to Gillian Tans, the CEO of Booking.com while waiting in the queue for the toilet.
Web Summit Crowds in front of the Center Stage.
This year we attended the Swiss Meetup “Kickstart Web Summit 2017” organized by Thibault and Antoine from Stairlin. This was a great way to meet fellow Swiss Startups, exchange experiences and hacks for Web Summit.
Finally, throughout the 4 days at Web Summit we talked to people who lead and work in multinational enterprises across the world; NGOs; entrepreneurs from all over the world, investors and media. And we are sure some of these meaningful connections will last beyond the event.
Here is our trophy collection from the last 4 days.
2. TO LEARN AND GET INSPIRED
There are 25 conferences within the summit across topics like AI, robotics, FinTech, media, content, growth, social, future. We attended some great talks from world leaders, politicians, CEOs, CMOs of fortune 500 companies, startups, media, influencers investors and more.
Apart from that, startups in Alpha program have access to roundtables and workshops. One of our highlights this year was talking directly to the Founder and CEO of Handy, Oisin Hanrahan and learning about scaling marketplaces. Not only has he shared first hand tips from his global business, he was also very approachable and keen to spend some time talking to us.
We had a mentoring slot with Tahirou Oumarou from Brightline to get his perspective on team engagement, leadership and turning strategy into a growth plan.
3. TO GET WEWENT OUT THERE AND GATHER FEEDBACK
Our strategy this year was to talk to as many people as possible. We used the opportunity to run a quick study on their experiences with team events. We spoke to leaders of enterprises and international organizations. We spoke to employees of corporates and startups. We met event organizers. And not only did we get very positive feedback but also brought some exciting ideas like virtual reality teambuilding activities and partnering up with co-working spaces.
In front of our stand.
4. AND LASTLY, WEB SUMMIT IS A GREAT TEAM EXPERIENCE FOR OUR OWN TEAM
In conclusion, spending four days together with the team in beautiful and sunny Lisbon, sharing inspirations and learnings, and having great team dinners and team outings is a wonderful opportunity to connect and have quality time. This is precious as we are a remote team.
All in all, what we get out of it is tons of inspiration, ideas for growth, improvement, and contacts. We will be turning all of these into our 2018 plan. Our follow-up list as a result of the event is long. It includes sharing pitch decks, and connecting for future partnerships and collaboration and we cannot wait to do it all.
And if you are curious about Web Summit’s content – check out the Web Summit’s Facebook page.
Find more stories, pictures, and videos from this amazing event on our Instagram and Facebook.
And don’t forget to visit https://experts.shakeuptheworkplace.com/
